Palantir and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime have withdrawn allegations against each other regarding a blocked £50m AI contract, stating the decision was not based on company values.
Palantir and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, have called off their legal fight over claims the Labour mayor was blocking the US tech company from signing a contract with the Metropolitan police because of its values and ethics. Palantir and the mayor’s office of policing and crime (Mopac) announced on Wednesday they had withdrawn allegations against each other, heading off a high court trial scheduled for January.
Palantir sued Mopac in June after Khan stepped in to block it from awarding Palantir a two-year £50m deal for Scotland Yard to use AI to process intelligence in criminal investigations in a system called unified operational analytics (UOA). Khan cited a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules. Reports also quoted a spokesperson for Khan citing concerns Palantir did not align with "London's values".
In a joint statement, Palantir and Mopac said that Mopac’s May 2026 decision to block the contract “was not based on Palantir’s values or ethics or any wider reporting about the company.”
The statement added: “Mopac recognises Palantir’s concerns that media reporting of a statement from the mayor’s spokesperson before the decision was taken could have incorrectly created the impression that an assessment of the company’s values had been a factor in that decision.”
Mopac stated its consideration was based upon its statutory role of examining spend proposals, against the appropriate legal tests and the relevant guidance on procurement, governance, affordability and ensuring value for money for Londoners. The statement further noted that Mopac “does not have, and has never had, any policy of not contracting with Palantir” and that the company was welcome to participate in any procurement processes.
Louis Mosley, who heads Palantir in the UK and Europe, had previously accused Khan of politicising procurement and said he was “putting politics above public safety.” He said: “What Londoners value is not being mugged, not being raped by a serving police officer.”
Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labour party who was hired as a full-time lobbyist by Palantir a month prior to the settlement, commented on the resolution. Watson said: “The mayor and his team have recognised their actions could have created the impression that the decision to block the UOA contract was based on Palantir’s values. I’m very pleased that they have today corrected any such impression, and that even in the face of extreme provocation from highly organised pressure groups, decisions about deploying technology can still be made on their merits and in the public interest.”
Khan stated: “London is the technology capital of Europe, and I am proud that leading software firms choose the city as their home. Palantir makes a significant contribution to jobs and investment in the capital, employing a large number of Londoners whose services have been procured legally by organisations across the UK and beyond.”
A new procurement process for the £50m police tech deal is under way. Mopac has agreed to treat Palantir “fairly and equally” if it bids, as expected, though it is not bound to agree to Palantir’s appointment. Each side is covering its own legal costs, no admissions of liability are made and no damages have been paid.
The settlement occurs as Palantir faces a separate battle to retain its £330m NHS medical data contract. A parliamentary committee said the company had a "clear mismatch with UK values" and recommended using a break clause, a suggestion Palantir's British CEO Louis Mosley called "irresponsible". Palantir's supply of software for the US military and immigration services, plus billionaire co-founder Peter Thiel's political views, have drawn scrutiny as European governments grow increasingly wary about dependency on US tech platforms.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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